Disclaimer: This is a private blog. The thoughts are my own and for my own reading and amusement. I may chose to write in 3rd person format but doesn't mean it is addressed to others. Visitors to my blog can read what they wish but the buck stops there. If I write something stupid, its for me alone. My stupidity! You can't have it :)

Monday, September 16, 2002

Yesterday, being bored, I went for a walk along the river. Somehow the river takes away the boredom and gets your thoughts running on a variety of issues. I sat there by a bench looking at the tiny waves hitting the dikes and little kids throwing in pebbles and giggling. From a distance I could see an Indian couple walking by the river and from the look of it - cameras hanging around their necks - I could tell they were tourists. A few minutes later they were walking just behind my bench and I could hear them speaking in Kannada, the language that I speak. I was hearing this after a few months gap and naturally my ears all perked up. Instantly I turned around and asked them (in Kannada) where they were from, what they were doing here, how long they were here for and etc...

A few minutes later I bid them farewell after giving them tips about visiting different spots and sat back looking at the river. As I sat there, I asked myself, why is it that in this strange land when I meet someone whom I have never known in my life I take comfort to help them out just because they speak my lingo. But if I was back in Karnataka, if a fellow tourist should ask me to guide him, I would probably have shrugged my shoulders and lied 'sorry, I really don't know much to help you out' and slide away. What is it that transforms me (and probably others too) into a more helpful, thoughtful, humble person when I am separated from all that I took for granted? Why is it that I have unknown + unwanted arrogance and pride when I am back home? Will I continue to be the same person when I eventually return? Well I guess only time will tell.